"What's she mean the stairs is gone?" Charlie asked as he aimed a flashlight into the basement.
"Oh, the stairs is gone." Charlie adhered to the principle that seeing is believing.
"Starr, what's going on down there? Are you alright? Is Dad okay?" Tamara took the flashlight from Charlie in an attempt to illuminate more of the cellar but the lamp was unable to pierce the blackness to be found at the cellar's floor.
"I can't see anything! Starr?"
"Mom, we're here...all of us." Starr waved her flashlight so her mother could at least see something.
"Okay, I see your light.
"Where is your Dad?"
Starr looked to Vincent; she had no idea what to tell her mother.
"Mrs. Forsythe, Vincent Palmary speaking. Your husband is alive but his soul is absent his body and his body has taken a terrible beating. I don't know if he, if any of us, will survive this night.
"Doctor, are you there?"
"I'm here. What do you need me to do?"
Vincent replied, "I fear that Pastor Duncan has been badly injured. He was struck quite intensely in the chest. He's conscious now but is having some difficulty breathing. If you could figure out a way to get down here?"
"Of course, I..." but Saul's response was interrupted.
"It won't let you in the basement, Dr. Feener. Don't even try to go down there. It will kill you!" Hillie Perkins, visible to everyone who was gathered in the kitchen, hovered in the doorless opening to the cellar.
Tamara, although staggered by what Vincent had said, was the first to react to Hillie's assertion.
"I don't know who, or what, you are, but we must get into that basement."
Hillie did not repond to Tamara. She spoke again to Saul.
"I can't stay here. I have to leave. Don't try to fight It. You can't win."
And just as quickly as she had appeared, Hillie disappeared from sight.
"Saul? Where are you? Are you still up there?" A worried Mag called up.
Saul's mind was racing. As far as he was concerned, Hillie had died secondary to his ineptitude; why in the world would she be trying to protect him now? Maybe she wasn't trying to help him but, rather, hinder him in order to avenge her own death. Saul simply didn't know which possibility to believe.
"Saul?" Mag's voice, again.
"I'm here, Mag." Saul had made his decision. "I will be down there as soon as possible."
“And I'll be with him," Tamara chimed in.
"You both heard what that little girl, whoever she was, said," Marybeth addressed Tamara and Saul, "how can you even think of going down there now?"
"How can we not?" Tamara rebutted.
CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
"These windows is too narrow. Ain't nobody squeezing through 'em," Charlie announced to the group that had gathered outside in the rain.
Cooter, who had slinked to Charlie's side when his master had appeared, barked in an attempt to get Charlie's attention.
"Good, then that's settled!" Marybeth was relieved.
"There's got to be a way in!" Tamara was determined.
"Charlie, isn't there another entrance to the cellar?" Saul asked. "You know, like steps that are covered by a top-opening door or something?"
"Ya mean like in an ol’ timey bomb shelter? No sir, nothin' like that.
"Cooter, cut it out!" Charlie shouted as the dog began digging in the mud by the basement wall.
"Best I can figer is we could lower ya down through the cellar door on a rope, Doc. That might work.
"Cooter! What the hell is wrong with ya?" Charlie was covered in the mud that Cooter's frenzied digging had shot through the air.
"Let him be, Charlie. I think he's trying to tell us something. Maybe he knows a way in." Tamara was anxious to see what, if anything, the dog knew.
All was quiet inside the basement. Paul's body stood perfectly still, eyes closed and mouth shut. Starr, Penelope, Mag, Vincent, and Lukas sat clustered together within the ring of salt. Everyone looked to Vincent for guidance.
"The blessed salt will hold It at bay for awhile. But we are dealing with something extraordinarily strong," Vincent said as he scratched at the hives that covered his body. "It will do Its best to wear us down, so I suggest that we all take this opportunity to rest."
"Starr, why don't you try to get some sleep? I'll stand guard," Mag suggested.
"I want to sleep, need to sleep, but I can't. That's my father over there," Starr said as she gestured toward Paul's body, he needs for me to be awake and alert.
"Why is this happening to him? What have any of us ever done to deserve this? Please tell me it's all just a terrible nightmare!"
Mag took Starr's hand. "It is a nightmare, but not the kind you mean. We have heard and seen things here that humans were not meant to be aware of. Why your father? Why us? I don't know. What I do know, however, is that we are all in this together and that any hope of deliverance and survival lies in our combined ability to remain steadfast in our stance against the Demonic."
Starr made as face at Mag as though to say, "Give me a break!"
Mag laughed a little. "I did sound a bit like an occult Hallmark card, didn't I? Sorry."
Starr squeezed Mag's hand. "I know you don't have the answers I'm looking for, but I am so grateful that you and Pastor Duncan and Mr. Palmary are here. I can't even imagine what might have happened by now if all of you had chosen to stay in your nice warm beds.
"Thank you."
Mag nodded in acknowledgement of Starr's gratitude.
"Well, I'll be buggy-whipped!" Charlie stood in awe of Cooter, whose furious digging had unearthed a steep, but short, set of steps that apparently lead to the cellar. "Didn't never know them was there!
"Damn. Cooter, yer one smart critter!"
And if dogs are capable of smiling, Cooter sure was.
"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us," Saul noted as he scrutinized Cooter's handiwork. “I best get some more flashlights from my truck.”
No one in the basement was aware of Starr's clammy skin and unfocused gaze. No one in the basement was aware of the deep growl that Penelope held in her throat. No one in the basement heard or saw what Starr and Penelope did.
"Your father, my brother, will be lost soon. His body has been weakened and his soul is barely visible to me now. If you don't intercede the Demonic will claim him for It's own.
"I'm here with Paul and have been all along, but my power to help him is limited. Tap into your strength, Starr. Use the gift God has given you." And with that instruction, Matthew's countenance faded from view.
"Starr?"
"What? What did you say?"
"I was asking you if that faucet over there works.
"Are you alright?" Mag inquired.
"Sorry, just zoned-out for a moment. And, yes, the faucet works."
"Good, I'm going to get some water for all of us while things are quiet and Vincent and the Pastor are napping."
"Okay, good idea." But Starr's thoughts were not on Mag or water. According to Matthew, her father was dying--physically and spiritually. How was she supposed to use her "gift" to save him?
"Oh, Pen," Starr whispered to her friend, "what are we going to do?"
Penelope rubbed her face against Starr's cheek.
Mag wasn't about to step outside the circle of salt without some form of protection, so he took Vincent's rosary beads with him on his journey to the basement's sink.
"Taking a little trip, are we?" A voice muttered in Mag's ear.
Mag immediately spun around and found himself face-to-face with Paul Forsythe.
CHAPTER
NINETY -FIVE
Mag gazed into eyes that revealed a microcosm of pain and suffering, hate and inhumanity, sorrow and desperation. Although he realized that humankind often crossed the line between good and evil, Mag had never really understood, prior to this moment, what Evil truly was. And now that he knew, he vehemently wished that he had remained ignorant of the dept
h and potency of true corruption.
"Mag!" Starr shouted. "The beads! Hold up the rosary beads!"
But Mag was lost in his epiphany.
"Mr. Palmary! Wake up! Mag needs help!" Starr implored as she shook Vincent awake.
Vincent, quick to his feet, rushed to where Mag stood and physically shoved him away from Paul's body. He then lifted his cross high above his head as he spoke.
God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I invoke your Holy Name and suppliantly request you: Deign to give me strength against this and every other unclean spirit which is tormenting this creature of yours.
Unclean Spirit! Whoever you are. I command you to retreat and do no harm to us!
As Paul Forsythe's body turned toward Starr, she saw the man whom she loved so dearly.
“Starr, why are you letting this stranger hurt me?
Please, help me!”
"Dad?"
Lukas, now awake, took hold of Starr's hand. "No, Starr, that's not Paul speaking. You know that, don't you?"
"But what if it is my father breaking through? That's possible, isn't it?"
"No, it's not possible," Vincent responded. "if your father is here, he's certainly not in his body and he can't speak to you.
“Be gone, Ancient Serpent! In the name of Our Creator!
In the name of Him who has power to send you into Hell! “Depart from this servant of God, Paul Forsythe.”
“Servant of God? We think not! This human chamber disavowed its creator long ago.
“We will not leave this body. We are quite comfortable here.”
So, Vincent thought to himself, Paul Forsythe’s lack of faith in God explained, at least partially, why the Demonic had been able to invade his body. That fact was going to make matters even more difficult than they already were.
“Ms. Forsythe, Vincent whispered, ”is it true what the Demonic says about your father?”
“Dad is a good and loving man.”
“I understand that,” Vincent persisted, “but does he believe in God and have faith in Him?”
Starr feared the ramifications of her response. “No. No, he doesn’t.
“You are frightening me. Does Dad’s lack of belief mean that you can’t help him?”
The Demonic answered Starr’s question before Vincent could. “Foolish woman! This weak spiritualist couldn’t help your pathetic father even if God did forgive him for his irreverence!”
“Mr. Palmary?” Starr needed to hear what he had to say.
Having convinced Marybeth and Patsy to go back into the house for the time being, Tamara, Saul, Charlie, and Cooter worked on clearing the steps that lead to the basement. It was slow-going secondary to the effects of the unremitting rain: Saul and Charlie would fill a bucket with the mud they removed from the steps; hand the bucket to Tamara for disposal; return to their work; discover a fresh mound of mud. Meanwhile, Cooter made his contribution to the group’s efforts by rolling around in the mud that Tamara emptied from the bucket.
Vincent chose his words carefully. “Ms. Forsythe, the Demonic frequently mixes truth with lies in order to make its assertions more believable. While it’s true that your father’s lack of a belief in God is an impediment to his deliverance from the Demonic, it is not an obstacle that is impossible to overcome.”
“Well, that’s one person’s opinion.”
Starr and Vincent turned their attention to Paul, who was calmly standing before them eating his own feces.
“Pats, there’s bound to be something we can do. I feel so useless just sitting here.” Marybeth was becoming increasingly agitated.
“What? What can we do? There’s nothing.”
“We could call someone.”
“Who should we call, M.B.? The police, the Pope, Ghostbusters?”
“You don’t need to be sarcastic! I’m just saying”
And that’s when the phone rang.
“Helhello?” Marybeth answered the phone.
“You are useless! You couldn’t even help Benjamin; how do you think you can help anyone else?”
Mag, who had returned to the circle of salt, helped Starr clean the vomitus off her face. The sight of her father eating his own excrement had sickened her.
“Mr. Palmary, where do we go from here?” Lukas asked.
Truth be told, Vincent wasn’t entirely sure but he couldn’t allow Starr, Lukas, and Mag to know that. He needed their confidence in his abilities if they had any hope of getting through this nightmare.
“I need to know this demon’s name. If I can call It by name, I have a better chance of banishing it.”
Lukas had an idea. “What if we start calling out demonic names and see which one It responds to?”
“Lord, no! That might summon more demons!
“No, I’ll just have to keep trying to get It to reveal itself.”
Although unseen by the group gathered in the basement, Paul’s soul had continued to drift close to his body, close enough that it occasionally made contact with Paul’s physical form. During those brief moments when soul touched body, Paul became marginally aware of his environment. He sensed Starr’s presence and could sometimes hear the words that were being spoken around him. He had no real comprehension of where he was or of what was happening to him. But he instinctively knew that there was something he needed to communicate to those around him.
Penelope’s chilling wail caught everyone by surprise.
CHAPTER NINETY-SIX
Penelope, quiet now but fully alert, was staring a Paul’s forehead and the blood that was flowing from it.
Starr, Lukas, Mag, and Vincent were also focusing on Paul’s forehead, but were less captivated by the blood than was Penelope; they were riveted by the word that had been etched into Paul’s skin: Gerasene.
CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
“What does that mean?” Starr asked of no one in particular.
“I haven’t a clue,” Vincent responded.
“I think I do,” Lukas was relieved to finally be of some use. “Gerasa was a city, near the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus is said to have healed a man, referred to as the Gerasene Demoniac, who was possessed by demons. According to lore, the demons that had invaded the man were terrified of Jesus and begged Him to allow them to leave the man and enter a herd of pigs. Jesus granted the demons their request: They entered the pigs and the entire herd jumped off a cliff. Two thousand pigs died that day, but the man was no longer possessed.”
Penelope looked up to Starr as if to say, “Don’t get any bright ideas! I’m a cat, not a pig!”
“Pastor Duncan, you said demons, pleural,” Vincent observed.
“Well, when Jesus demanded to know what was in the man, the response had been, ‘Legion. For we are many.’”
“That’s the same thing Dad said earlier!”
“That’s a pretty common claim in cases of possession. It seems to be the the Demonic’s way of concealing Its name,” Vincent shared.
“So, it looks as though we have a good news, bad news situation here. The good news: Mr. Forsythe was probably responsible for making that name appear on his skin; the Demonic would be loathe to share any private information about Itself. That means that your father, Ms. Forsythe, has not yet been fully possessed.”
“And the bad news?” Mag prompted.
“We still don’t know the identity of the demon, or demons, we are up against.”
“But we do know more than we did. Doesn’t knowing something intimate about the Demonic give us some additional power over It?” Mag wanted to know.
“It might,” Vincent admitted. “It just might.”
“Tamara,” Saul called up, “we can finally see the door.”
“Good, that’s good!
“Can you open it?”
“We’re going to try after we clear away a little more mud. From what I can see, though, it’s pretty warped.”
“Screw this shit! I’d rather be outside in the rain than in here with that telephone!
; “You coming?”
“Absolutely! I’m sure as hell not staying in here alone!”
Patsy and Marybeth went back outside.
CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT
Charlie pounded on the recently disclosed cellar door and yelled to the basement’s inhabitants that help was on the way, but The Demonic had ensured that Charlie’s words could not be heard. It recognized that humans, weak though they were, could draw strength from one another and It had no intention of playing around with these swine any longer.
CHAPTER NINETY-NINE
It had finally occurred to Charlie that the reason he had been unaware of the outside entrance to the basement was because the wall on the other side of the door was covered with free-standing cabinetry and shelving; he had never been able to see the door. He and Saul would have to destroy the door and what was on the other side of it in order to get into the cellar.
While Charlie and Saul worked on the basement door, the Demonic rested. Mag realized that he had done little in life that was of benefit to anyone save himself. Lukas realized that he could never really atone for killing his father. Vincent prayed for the strength he realized he lacked. Penelope and Starr approached the glistening luminosity that was now visible to them just to the right of Paul’s body.
“Starr, no!” Mag shouted.
“Wait, Mag, let her be. I think she sees something we don’t,” Vincent instructed.
“But”
“Mag, let it play out. I can’t explain it, but for the first time since we’ve been down here I have a real sense of hope. Perhaps the bond between father and daughter will be strong enough to break the Demonic’s hold on Mr. Forsythe.”
Mag seriously doubted that Vincent was correct but he felt that he had little choice but to follow Vincent’s advice; Lukas silently prayed to God that Starr would not be harmed.
Unclean Spirit Page 18
